


Personal Reasons

by cloudwatch



Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: Canon Compliant, M/M, also science, and relationship advice from a fish-tank, carlos' pov
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-01
Updated: 2013-08-01
Packaged: 2017-12-22 03:34:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,935
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/908417
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cloudwatch/pseuds/cloudwatch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Carlos has been in Night Vale long enough that getting advice on how to ask Cecil out from a fish-tank really isn't something to freak out about.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Personal Reasons

The first thing that his mother says to him the first time he calls her once arriving in Night Vale, after “hello, dear" of course, is “have you made any friends?"

He almost says yes, because he has; Riley, one of the scientists on his team; they'd become close, but then he’d have to explain how Riley got absorbed by the fish-tank they were examining and is now _actually_ the fish-tank. He doesn’t think she’ll take that too well. Or the fact that there are no working clocks in Night Vale.

His mother is rather fond of clocks.

Instead, he tells her the small things, the “Oh, yeah, I’m getting a LOT of science done, yep, _t_ _ons_ of science done," things, which she seems to enjoy. She stops asking him if he has any friends around the sixth month mark, and frankly, he's a little relieved. Two other scientists have either gone missing (he swears that he saw one get beamed up by aliens, but he'd worked late the other day and had been watching way too many alien movies lately, so he wouldn't be surprised if he'd imagined it. But he's pretty sure he didn't.), and Carlos has become rather positive that, supernatural elements be damned, if his mother ever leaned of what was happening in Night Vale, she'd be over there, evacuating everyone.

So, for a while, he's content with their simple phone calls; it's nice to have something normal happen to him every once in a while.

It’s only when she starts asking him The Question that he gets more nervous.

" _So, have you met anyone yet?_ "

He hesitates the first few times, thinking that maybe he could tell her about Cecil, because now that Carlos has gotten to know him better (and really, Cecil is rather adorable outside of the radio studio, all eager to help Carlos out with his science), he has much more to say about Cecil.

_Sort of? I mean, the local radio host seems to really like me (or at least my hair), and he’s really cute, and he's got a great personality and a voice that could melt ice but…_

But if he said that, then she’d want to know more about Cecil. And well, Carlos is still trying to get over the fact that one of his team members got swallowed by a fish tank and that another one vanished inside a forest that disappeared after one day.

He just figured he’d get comfortable to tell his mom about his crush eventually. It's only after he almost dies that he realizes he _really_ needs to not wait around and just _do it_. He knows Cecil well enough that Cecil wouldn't be the one to ask Carlos out for the first time, even after their shared moment at Arby's. Cecil has stopped by the lab a few times after that night, and each time Carlos almost asks him; grabs his arm, his hand, his shoulder, the closest limb he can reach, and then he takes a deep breath. But once he's looking into Cecil's eyes, he always finds his mouth dry and unable to speak. So he says, “Thank you for coming by, I'll talk to you later,” and then Cecil leaves.

“I'm an idiot,” He says to himself on the second scheduled Thursday of the week (Wednesday had again been canceled, so instead, they were having two Thursdays. It's working out pretty well, actually), playing with a screwdriver he'd previously been using to try and break open a floating locket that liked to shoot out electricity. The locket is currently floating over in the far left corner, hissing at anyone who comes close to it.

“That you are,” says Riley the Fish-tank. Carlos sighs, then picks up the fish food and sprinkles some in the water. The fish eat it up quickly, and Riley gives out a sigh. “I miss human food.”

Carlos looks over at the left over steak Cecil had brought him for lunch (Cecil bringing him lunch, it's a thing now, apparently. Carlos loves it.). “Do you... want it?”

If Riley the Fish-tank could shake his head, Carlos is sure that he would. “No, pretty sure it'll kill the fish, and then I won't get to eat."

They're still not sure how Riley is eating via the fish (or how he is able to talk), but they've stopped asking; there's more important questions to be answering. _Like how I'm going to ask Cecil out_ , Carlos thinks to himself, because yes, at the moment, that is more important than stopping the lockets from electrocuting everyone. After a moment of silence, Riley speaks up again. “So... why are you an idi-"

He's cut off, though, when a shriek from the locket reaches their direction, and Carlos looks up just in time to see the locket grow four times its normal size, tentacles pop out of nowhere, and for it to fly towards the nearest scientist and attach itself to her face, shrieking all the while. She screams, and another scientist picks up their flamethrower (they've upgraded most of their equipment since being in Night Vale) and quickly burns the tentacles off the locket; the locket shrinks, crying all the while, and flies off back to the corner it had been in previously, humming darkly.

Carlos turns back to Riley the Fish-tank. “You were saying?”

“I was saying that you're an idiot,” Riley says, talking over the heavy breathing of the scientist. She's new, only four days on the job, and Carlos can tell that she'll get used to the town and it's weirdness quickly. “You've been debating how to ask this Cecil guy out for... what, almost two weeks now?”

Carlos sighs, runs a hand through his (perfect) hair, and sits down heavily on his chair. “Yes. But every time I call I seem to only be able to talk about science and the newest weird thing that's threatening to destroy Night Vale and its citizens. I can't seem to get the right words to come out.”

Riley sighs, then jumps a bit, the fish in his tank swimming around madly. “Let me give you some advice; in college, I was pretty popular and went on a _lot_ of dates - ”

And as Riley talks, Carlos doesn't even bat an eye at how he's taking relationship advice from a human-turned-fish-tank.

This is his life, and he's shockingly really happy with it.

 

…

_For a fish-tank, Riley does have some good advice_ , Carlos thinks as he thinks back to the advice he's been given.

  _You usually call him regarding work, so... maybe mix some of that in while asking him out? Couldn't hurt, that way, if something goes wrong, you can fall back on the work issue. YAY for backup plans! Also, if this works and you get a date with him, you better buy the good fish food, and not the cheap stuff next week. I deserve good fish food!_

 His computer next to him beeps, and Carlos puts down his favorite weekend lab coat and picks up the paper that his prints spits out. He grins. _Perfect_. Taking a deep breath, he picks up his phone, dials Cecil's number, and waits.

 “ _Hello?_ ”

 Carlos smiles; Cecil's voice is a bit lighter than when he's on the radio, but it's still just as beautiful. Carlos takes a deep breath and opens his mouth.

 “I am calling for personal reasons,” he pauses for a second. “Also, my calculations show a strange source of energy approaching the town, but not emanating the kind of light that such a source should.” He hears Cecil inhale, then pause.

 “ _Are your personal reasons related to science_?”

 “Oh... uh, no. The personal reasons for calling are regarding your eligibility for later on this evening. Are you available from five until whenever?”

 Cecil inhales again, but it's sharper this time. “Oh _, Carlos... is this..? Yes, yes I am absolutely available from five until whenever tonight!_ ”

 There's a part of Carlos that jumps for joy when Cecil accepts. The other part of him almost squeaks loudly. Instead, he says “Good, good. Let's meet up in Old Town, and go from there.” 

“ _Wonderful!”_

Carlos hangs up, then breathes, and he immediately throws himself on his bed and rolls around like an excited child. Not even a second later, there's a groan from underneath his bed, and a small, black hole floats out from underneath it. “Oh, sorry about that,” Carlos says. The black hole turns around and rumbles at him, and then rolls right on out of his bedroom. The black hole moved in last week, and Carlos has become very fond of it; it's pretty quiet and likes dark corners, and (ignoring some of the smaller items in his house, like pens and notebooks being sucked inside every so often) it's kind of like having a pet, one that won't kill you. He hopes Cecil likes it, when Carlos decides to introduce the two of them.

He's about to stand up when his phone rings again, and still in a state of pure happiness, he answers it without looking at the caller ID. “Hello?" 

“ _Hi, dear!_ ” his mom calls out, and Carlos inwardly groans.

_Oh no..._

“ _How have you been? I haven't heard from you in a while?”_

Carlos sits up on his bed, running a hand through his hair. “Uh, I've been busy, with science and... more science?”

His mom pauses. “ _What are you trying to not tell me, honey?_ ”

“What? N-nothing, I'm just - ”

“ _Carlos_." 

Well shit. 

“Ihaveadate,” he blurts out, hating how his mother can get him to tell her anything.

“ _Oh, honey, that's amazing! Tell me about them. What do they look like, their name, anything?_ ”

Carlos has a small freakout while he tries to think up a way to describe Cecil. Cecil can change his eye color; last week his eyes were green, and yesterday his eyes were brown (and Carlos isn't even going to _touch_ the third eye on Cecil's forehead). Cecil's hair usually stays fluffy, and he does wear glasses most of the time, and he's rather cute one hundred percent of the time, so Carlos figures those are safe enough descriptive words.

“He wears glasses and his name is Cecil. He's shorter than me, and his hair is fluffy,” is what he says, because really, how does one describe Cecil other than the Voice of Night Vale?

It seems to be enough for his mother, though, and she wishes him good luck on the date. But before she hangs up, though, she gives him reason to panic. “ _If this works out, then you should bring him with you when you come home for my birthday and your high school reunion. We'd all love to meet him! I love you, honey, bye!_ ”

Carlos puts his phone down, then lays back down on his bed with a sigh. _Well then_ , he thinks. Is it too soon to ask Cecil to come back home with him? They have known each other for a year, and looking back on it, it was pretty inevitable that they would go out. “I guess... in a few dates I'll have to ask him,” he says out loud. 

 A moan comes from his kitchen and a few seconds later the black hole rolls back into his room, going directly for underneath the bed, and then it sighs happily. “I feel you,” Carlos says to the black hole; it moans again. Grinning once again, Carlos sits back up, then reaches for his weekend lab coat and slips it on. He's got a date to prepare for.


End file.
